Dive Brief:
- Grocery Outlet announced Tuesday the appointment of Frank Kerr as its executive vice president and chief store operations officer, effective Sept. 15.
- Kerr is coming to Grocery Outlet from Lidl US, where he most recently served as chief customer officer for nearly two years.
- Kerr’s appointment marks the latest C-suite change at Grocery Outlet as the discounter looks to turn around its financial performance.
Dive Insight:
Kerr is joining Grocery Outlet at a time when the discounter is focusing on four strategic priorities outlined by its new CEO and president to improve the business, one of which is to attract and retain top talent.
Kerr brings more than a decade of leadership experience in grocery retail to Grocery Outlet, with the company noting that he “has a strong track record of driving growth, efficiency, and profitability across large store fleets.”
During his tenure with Lidl, Kerr oversaw the grocer’s expansion in the U.S. Before joining Lidl, Kerr served as vice president of retail operations for Save A Lot.
Kerr is joining Grocery Outlet as Pamela Burke, who currently serves as chief stores officer, prepares to depart. Ramesh Chikkala, who formerly served as chief operations officer, left the company in June. Grocery Outlet disclosed in May that it would be parting ways with Burke and Chikkala.
Kerr is the latest in Grocery Outlet’s string of external C-suite hires this year.
At the start of this year, Grocery Outlet brought on Christopher Miller, previously with food service distributor Shamrock Foods Company, as CFO, and Kumar Mishra, formerly with Reynolds Consumer Products, as CIO. In February, Jason Potter, formerly head of specialty grocer The Fresh Market, became Grocery Outlet’s president and CEO.
Recently, Grocery Outlet brought on Matt Delly, previously a consultant for Chedraui USA and chief merchandising officer at 99 Cents Only Stores, as its chief merchandising officer.
In June, Grocery Outlet announced the addition of two new members to its board of directors: Lawrence “Chip” Molloy, a former Sprouts Farmers Market CFO, and Michael Kobayashi, a former Ross Stores executive.
The executive changes come as Grocery Outlet works to stabilize its financial performance after several turbulent quarters. In February, Grocery Outlet said it laid off about 40 workers as part of a restructuring plan aimed at reducing costs and improving long-term profitability.
During its last quarter, Grocery Outlet recorded a 4.5% year-over-year net sales increase and a comparable-store sales increase of just over 1%.
